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Barabanki accident: Journey home ends in tragedy, survivors recall nightmare
The bus passengers were labourers working in Punjab and Haryana. They were returning home to Bihar after several months
Hours after Indel Mahto, 25, called his father Fakira Mahto in Sitamarhi district of Bihar that he was on his way home, he, along with 17 others, was crushed under the tyres of a bus near Ram Sanehi Ghat in Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh early on Wednesday when a truck hit the bus from behind, killing 18 people
“He was happy and told me that he will be home by Wednesday night. I got a call from someone who said that he has died in a bus accident. I don’t know how to react to it,” said the father over the phone.
Like Mahto, the other 140 passengers of the bus were labourers who worked in farms or industrial units in Punjab and Haryana. Most of them were returning home to Bihar after several months. They paid ₹1500 to 2500 to the travel agents who arranged the bus.
Dinesh Mandal, relative of a passenger, said that his uncle Balram Mandal ,55, worked as a farm labourer in Ludhiana, Punjab. Balram was killed in the mishap. His body was found near the front wheels of the bus.
“My uncle called home on Tuesday and said that he is returning home. He was planning to marry off his youngest daughter in September,” said Dinesh.
Like Mahto and Mandal, most of the passengers alighted from the overcrowded bus when it broke down in Barabanki. While some walked to an eatery nearby, others, tired from the journey, lay down on the road, under or in front of the bus.
Sunil Mahto, one of the passengers who sustained minor injuries, said, “The bus was so crowded that over 30 people were travelling while standing in the corridor. The people standing in the corridor alighted first and many of them lay on the road. There was a cool breeze, so they closed their eyes and slept. The conductor of the bus even suggested to us to rest by the roadside,” Mahto recalled.
Within an hour of the bus breaking down, most of the passengers found a place either inside, outside , on or under the bus, waiting for the mechanic to arrive and fix the bus. But a truck hit the bus from behind. Santosh Kumar Pandit, 22, who was seated right behind the bus driver, said, “There was a loud noise and I was jolted to one side of my seat. I heard glass shatter and then people inside the bus started crying. I first thought that it was a bad dream, but when I opened my eyes, I found myself under three passengers who were sharing the seat with me.”
According to the police, most of the people died on the spot after being crushed under the bus.
Passengers at the back of the bus or resting on top of it sustained injuries. Pradeep Sahni, 21, another passenger, was resting on the roadside when the accident happened.
“I saw the tyres of the bus rolling over people sleeping on the ground. I froze for a moment. It looked like a movie scene only the people who were killed or injured were all real,” he said.
